Refrigerator lid



May I9-, 1942. E. J. MALEK REFRIGERATOR LID Filed Aug. a. 195s .su i o gym/UC lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll f.

Patented May 1e, i942 REFRIGERATR LID Edward J. Malek, Euclid, Ohio, assignor to The Aetna Rubber Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application August 2, 193s, serial No. 222,659 A (ci. 22o-24') 2 Ciaims.

This invention relates to lids for refrigerator cabinets of the type commonly employed in drug stores, confectionery stores, restaurants, and the like, to keep in the desired cold condition ready for the retail trade such articles as ice cream, soft drinks and frozen foods.

These cabinets have lids or covers which are generally arranged in pairs, the lids of each pair being hinged together and tting intoa suitable rubber frame, two or more frames (the number depending upon the size of the cabinet) being fitted into and supported at the top of the cabinet. In some instances, especially where the cabinets are designed to hold frozen fruits, vegetables, and the like, a single relatively long lid is supported in the frame.

These lids are generally formed of hard rubber and are hollow and of suicient depth that they may be iilled with a substantial amount of suitable iinely divided heat-insulating material such as ground cork. Generally, each lid is composed of a body portion with an outstanding flange or lip extending around three sides and adapted to fit over corresponding portions of the frame and with a depending skirt which extends down along the four sides, and a bottom plate which nts over the lower edge of the skirt and is fastened in place by a series of screws. To fasten the bottom plate in position it is necessary that there be embedded in protuberances formed on the inner side of the skirt threaded brass inserts to accommodate the screws. The body of the lid is molded from rubber composition, and consequently the proper locating and supporting of the inserts in the rubber mold is a troublesome and expensive matter and the applying and sealing of the bottom plate also adds considerably to the expense of the lid.

The same procedure is followed if a single relatively long lid is tted into the top of the frame, but the trouble and expense is multiplied due to the fact that with a lid of this kind an exceedingly large number of inserts must be molded into the body portion of the lid.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a lid of the general type referred to above which can be produced more easily and less expensively than the present lids.

More particularly, it is the aim of the invention to do away with the necessity of securing the bottom plate to the skirt of the body portion by means of screws and therefore to eliminate the necessity of molding into the skirt inserts such as are now required.

A still further and more specific object is to provide a lid construction wherein either a bottom plate or a top plate, as the case may be, is secured to the skirt portion of the lid body by the shrinkage of the latter about the margin of the former so that at the same time it will be effectively secured in place and automatically sealed entirely around its margin, thereby insuring a dead air space inside the lid and doing away with the necessity of filling the lid with heat-insulating material.

The invention may be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings wherein I have shown two embodiments of the invention,

Fig. l is a bottomY view of a refrigerator lid constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View substantially along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view substantially along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 4 is a top plan View of a refrigerator lid constructedin accordance with a modied form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view substantially along the line 5 5 of Fig. 4; and

` Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional View substantially along the line 6 6 of Fig. 4. Y

Referring rst to Figs. 1 vto 3, the lid her shown comprises a molded body portion l having a depending skirt Il which extends downwardly around the four sides of the body forming an inner space or compartment I2. At the top of the skirt and therefore at the top of the lid there is an outstanding ange 0r lip 3 curved or rounded on its und'er side so that it mayy suitably engage the supporting frame which, as before stated, is designed to be tted into the top of the cabinet. three sides of the lid, the fourth'side being made straight or square so that it may be provided in the usual manner with hinges by which it may be hingedly connected to the adjoining lid.

The body portion iii of the lid is preferably molded from suitable plastic material, preferably vulcanizable rubber stock of suitable compo- U sition which will be referred to again presently.

vThe lid is completed by a bottom plate M which may be formed of metal, such as stainless steel, or hard rubber or other suitable material. It is a feature of the present construction that the marginal portion of the bottom plate Eli all around the same is embedded in the skirt Il. This is accomplished by applying the plate I4 to the body .Eil when the latter is first removed from the vulcanizing mold and is therefore in hot condition and by allowing the margin of the plate ill to sink in or become embedded in the skirt il as the body I0 cools and therefore shrinks. The shrinkage is suiiiciently greatr that the marginal part of the plate ld is embedded sufficiently to securely fasten the plate in -posi- This lip or flange extends around tion and at the same time seal the joint between the margin of the plate and the skirt in which it is embedded.

By fastening the bottom plate I4 in position in the manner explained and at the same time forming a seal around its margin,not only is a dead air space formed in the compartment I2, thus providing for good insulation and doing away with the necessity of filling the compartment with a special insulating material, but the process is relatively inexpensive'since the necessity for inserts to receive screws is eliminated and as the joint is automatically sealed around the margin of the plate I4, there is no danger of moisture and the like finding its way past the margin of the plate into the compartment I2, as has been the case heretofore. Thus this lid answers all requirements from the standpoint of sanitation.

I have heretofore mentioned the fact that the body I Il is preferably formed entirely of hard rubber composition, but, if desired, the lower part IIa of the skirt may be formed of soft rubber composition, and this is indicated in the drawing. The advantage of having the skirt formed of relatively soft rubber at this point is that the embedding and sealing of the margin of the plate I4 is somewhat enhanced.

If desired, by the use of special mold equipment which need not here be described, a slight groove may be molded in the rubber (or equivalent plastic material) to receive the edge of the plate I4, but if a groove is preformed in the rubber to receive the edge of the plate its depth will be such that as the hot material shrinks it will tightly embrace the plate and shrink up tight against the eXtreme edge of the plate so that the sealing effect previously mentioned will be obtained to a high degree. To properly position the plate in the open end of the hot lid body, a slight internal shoulder is provided on which the plate rests, this shoulder being indicated at IIb in Figs. l and 3.

Occasionally there is a tendency for the top of the lid to sag, and this may be overcome by molding onto the underside of the top portion of the lid an internal supporting rib I5 the lower end I 5a of which is designed to engage the inner side of the plate I4. If desired, the lower end of the rib may be formed of soft rubber the same as the lower part of the skirt.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 4 to 6, this construction, while diiering in detail from that rst described, embodies the same invention in a somewhat different form. Here the body I6 has an integral bottom II and an upstanding skirt I8 with a marginal lip or flange I 9 around three sides, as before. The body I6 may be molded from hard rubber composition and vulcanized, but preferably the top portion of the skirt is formed from soft rubber composition, as indicated at I8a. In this instance, the top of the lid consists of a plate 2U. The outer part of the plate rests upon a shoulder 2| and its outer edge is beveled and extends into and therefore is embedded in the upper part of the skirt. The embedding of the outer marginal partof the plate 2D in the top portion of the skirt is accomplished in precisely the same manner as before, that is to say, the plate is placed in position on the shoulder 2I immediately after the molded body portion I8 is removed from the vulcanizing mold and therefore while it is in a heated condition,

and as the heated body portion cools, it shrinks sufciently to embed the marginal part of the plate into the body of rubber in the manner ndicated, thus effectively securing the plate 20 in position and at the same time forming a tight seal around the margin of the plate. By use of the soft rubber top portion I8a of the skirt the sealing effect is enhanced as in the first instance. Then again the soft rubber lip I9 has some advantage over hard rubber in the sealing effect which the lid has on the supporting frame when the lid is closed. As with the rst described construction a slight internal groove may be molded immediately above the shoulder 2l to receive the edge of the plate 20, but here again the depth of the groove must be carefully made so that when the shrinkage occurs a tight embedding and sealing eifect is obtained.

The top plate 20 may be formed from any suitable material, such as metal, hard rubber, etc. Hard rubber is indicated in this instance, in which case the top plate 2! is preferably made somewhat thicker than the bottom plate I4 of the rst described construction, and preferably it extends up above the top marginal part of the skirt I9 so as to form a clear line of demarcation between the hard rubber of the plate and the soft rubber of the top part of the skirt. In this instance, as before, to avoid any likelihood of the plate 2B sagging, a rib 22 of suitable shape may be molded on the bottom I'I of the body I6 internally of the lid. The upper portion of the rib which is designed to be engaged by the underside of the plate 20 may be formed of soft rubber if desired as indicated at 22a.

While I have shown the preferred construction and a modification, I do not desire to be confined to the precise details shown but aim in my claims to cover all modications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A hollow lid for refrigerators composed of a body portion the latter forming one side of the lid, said side having a skirt projecting therefrom forming the edge of the lid, and a plate forming the opposite side of the lid, the body portion being formed from vulcanized rubber with the major portion produced from hard rubber composition and the end of the skirt from soft rubber composition, said plate having its marginal portion embedded in the soft rubber part of the skirt whereby it is secured and sealed in the latter, said rst-named side having molded integral there with an internal supporting rib which projects to and engages the underside of said plate, the end of said rib being formed of soft rubber.

2. A hollow door or lid for refrigerators and the like composed of a body portion of vulcanized rubber, said body portion forming one side and the edge of the article, said edge being in the form of a skirt molded integral with said side, and a substantially flat plate having its edge portion which lies in the plane of the body portion of the plate embedded in the free end portion of the skirt, the latter having a peripheral undercut groove which receives said edge portion of the plate, the wall forming the groove having greater depth on the inner side of the plate than on the outer side, whereby a substantial shoulder is formed on the inner side of the skirt to resist pressure exerted inwardly on the plate.

EDWARD J. MALEK. 

